that he, like his master,
might go mad.
Gerande led her father towards the more
pleasant promenades of the town. With his arm resting on hers, she conducted
him sometimes through the quarter of Saint Antoine, the view from which extends
towards the Cologny hill, and over the lake: on fine mornings they caught sight
of the gigantic peaks of Mount Buet against the horizon. Gerande pointed out
these spots to her father, who had well-nigh forgotten even their names. His
memory wandered; and he took a childish interest in learning anew what had
passed from his mind. Master Zacharius leaned upon his daughter; and the two
heads, one white as snow and the other covered with rich golden tresses, met in
the same ray of sunlight.
So it came about that the old watchmaker at
last perceived that he was not alone in the world. As he looked upon his young
and lovely daughter, and on himself old and broken, he reflected that after his
death she would be left alone without support. Many of the young mechanics of
Geneva had already sought to win Gerande’s love; but none of them had succeeded
in gaining access to the impenetrable retreat of the watchmaker’s household. It
was natural, then, that during this lucid interval, the old man’s choice should
fall on Aubert Thun. Once struck with this thought, he remarked to himself that
this young couple had been brought up with the same ideas and the same beliefs;
and the oscillations of their hearts seemed to him, as he said one day to
Scholastique, ‘isochronous’.
The old servant, literally delighted with
the word, though she did not understand it, swore by her holy patron saint that
the whole town should hear it within a quarter of an hour. Master Zacharius
found it difficult to calm her; but made her promise to keep on this subject a
silence which she never was known to observe.
So, though Gerande and Aubert were ignorant
of it, all Geneva was soon talking of their speedy union. But it happened also
that, while the worthy folk were gossiping, a strange chuckle was often heard,
and a voice saying, ‘Gerande will not wed Aubert.’
If the talkers turned round, they found
themselves facing a little old man who was quite a stranger to them.
How old was this singular being? No one
could have told. People conjectured that he must have existed for several
centuries, and that was all. His big flat head rested upon shoulders the width
of which was equal to the height of his body; this was not above three feet.
This personage would have made a good figure to support a pendulum, for the
dial would have naturally been placed on his face, and the balance-wheel would
have oscillated at its ease in his chest. His nose might readily have been
taken for the style of a sun-dial, for it was narrow and sharp; his teeth, far
apart, resembled the cogs of a wheel, and ground themselves between his lips;
his voice had the metallic sound of a bell, and you could hear his heart beat
like the tick of a clock.
This little man, whose arms moved like the
hands on a dial, walked with jerks, without ever turning round. If anyone
followed him, it was found that he walked a league an hour, and that his course
was nearly circular.
This strange being had not long been seen
wandering, or rather circulating, around the town; but it had already been
observed that, every day, at the moment when the sun passed the meridian, he
stopped before the Cathedral of Saint Pierre, and resumed his course after the
twelve strokes of noon had sounded. Excepting at this precise moment, he seemed
to become a part of all the conversations in which the old watchmaker was
talked of; and people asked each other, in terror, what relation could exist
between him and Master Zacharius. It was remarked, too, that he never lost
sight of the old man and his daughter while they were taking their promenades.
One day Gerande perceived this monster
looking at her with a hideous smile. She clung to her father with a frightened
motion.
‘What is the
might go mad.
Gerande led her father towards the more
pleasant promenades of the town. With his arm resting on hers, she conducted
him sometimes through the quarter of Saint Antoine, the view from which extends
towards the Cologny hill, and over the lake: on fine mornings they caught sight
of the gigantic peaks of Mount Buet against the horizon. Gerande pointed out
these spots to her father, who had well-nigh forgotten even their names. His
memory wandered; and he took a childish interest in learning anew what had
passed from his mind. Master Zacharius leaned upon his daughter; and the two
heads, one white as snow and the other covered with rich golden tresses, met in
the same ray of sunlight.
So it came about that the old watchmaker at
last perceived that he was not alone in the world. As he looked upon his young
and lovely daughter, and on himself old and broken, he reflected that after his
death she would be left alone without support. Many of the young mechanics of
Geneva had already sought to win Gerande’s love; but none of them had succeeded
in gaining access to the impenetrable retreat of the watchmaker’s household. It
was natural, then, that during this lucid interval, the old man’s choice should
fall on Aubert Thun. Once struck with this thought, he remarked to himself that
this young couple had been brought up with the same ideas and the same beliefs;
and the oscillations of their hearts seemed to him, as he said one day to
Scholastique, ‘isochronous’.
The old servant, literally delighted with
the word, though she did not understand it, swore by her holy patron saint that
the whole town should hear it within a quarter of an hour. Master Zacharius
found it difficult to calm her; but made her promise to keep on this subject a
silence which she never was known to observe.
So, though Gerande and Aubert were ignorant
of it, all Geneva was soon talking of their speedy union. But it happened also
that, while the worthy folk were gossiping, a strange chuckle was often heard,
and a voice saying, ‘Gerande will not wed Aubert.’
If the talkers turned round, they found
themselves facing a little old man who was quite a stranger to them.
How old was this singular being? No one
could have told. People conjectured that he must have existed for several
centuries, and that was all. His big flat head rested upon shoulders the width
of which was equal to the height of his body; this was not above three feet.
This personage would have made a good figure to support a pendulum, for the
dial would have naturally been placed on his face, and the balance-wheel would
have oscillated at its ease in his chest. His nose might readily have been
taken for the style of a sun-dial, for it was narrow and sharp; his teeth, far
apart, resembled the cogs of a wheel, and ground themselves between his lips;
his voice had the metallic sound of a bell, and you could hear his heart beat
like the tick of a clock.
This little man, whose arms moved like the
hands on a dial, walked with jerks, without ever turning round. If anyone
followed him, it was found that he walked a league an hour, and that his course
was nearly circular.
This strange being had not long been seen
wandering, or rather circulating, around the town; but it had already been
observed that, every day, at the moment when the sun passed the meridian, he
stopped before the Cathedral of Saint Pierre, and resumed his course after the
twelve strokes of noon had sounded. Excepting at this precise moment, he seemed
to become a part of all the conversations in which the old watchmaker was
talked of; and people asked each other, in terror, what relation could exist
between him and Master Zacharius. It was remarked, too, that he never lost
sight of the old man and his daughter while they were taking their promenades.
One day Gerande perceived this monster
looking at her with a hideous smile. She clung to her father with a frightened
motion.
‘What is the
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